Sayla's Agony
Sayla's Agony is the sixteenth episode of Mobile Suit Gundam. It aired in Japan on July 21, 1979 and in North America on August 10, 2001. Synopsis The White Base travels across the Asian desert to rendezvous with a messenger from General Revil. Chef Tamura brings Bright a hamburger and tells him that the ship is running low on salt. A jeep is detected on approach to the ship, and the White Base deploys its guns lands. Bright, Ryu and Kai go outside and find a wounded soldier in the jeep. Bright gives a pass phrase, and the soldier gives the correct answer. The wounded soldier is taken to the infirmary and tells Bright about Odessa Day, which is the Federation's planned operation to take back the mines held by Kycilia's officer M'Quve. The soldier says that capturing the Odessa mines could change the course of the war, so the White Base is to participate in the battle. Bright tries to ask the soldier for more information, but the soldier passes away. As Amuro repairs the Gundam, Fraw brings him food and tells him they are out of salt. A salt lake is located nearby, and Bright decides to take a brief detour to it to get salt for Tamura. Elsewhere, Ramba Ral and Hamon travel in a Gallop across the desert, and Ral attempts to contact M'quve. One of M'Quve's underlings, named Uragang tells Ral that M'Quve is unavailable, but he will provide him with whatever information he needs. M'Quve isn't happy about Ramba being in the area because he doesn't want Dozle to find out about what he's doing. He is informed that the White Base is in the area, and he tells Ramba about it so that they will attack and hopefully depart in the near future. Ramba decides to set up an ambush with the Gallop, his Gouf, and two Zakus. The White Base arrives at the lake and finds it dried out. Marker performs further research and finds that the lake moves, so they begin a search for it. The Gallop approaches, and Bright wonders what it is. Amuro says he will go out with the Gundam despite not knowing what the enemy is. As he suits up for combat, Sayla suddenly launches in the Gundam. Amuro asks Job John what happened, and he says that Sayla told him she had special orders. The G-forces of the Gundam as it launches prove too much for Sayla, and she vomits inside the cockpit. She desires to contact the Zeon, but she is attacked by Ral. Ral attacks the Gundam with his Gouf, and Sayla finds that she is no match for him. Amuro launches in the Guncannon to help her. Amuro tries to contact her, but finds that she has shut off communication. Ramba disappears, and Sayla walks right into a trap he has set has set up where he has hidden the Gouf under the sand. He uses the heat rod to cut the Gundam's right foot in half. Amuro prevents him from getting near the Gundam, and Ramba begins attacking Amuro relentlessly with his heat rod. He wants to force Amuro into hand-to-hand combat, but he has to divert his attention when the Guntank attacks him. As the Gallop attacks, Clamp asks Hamon why they can't use the Zanzibar to attack, and Hamon explains it is experimental and they can't reveal it with M'Quve nearby. Amuro is attacked by Ral's wingman, Acous, but he destroys the Zaku when it runs out of ammo. Ral's other wingman, Cozun grabs the Gundam and tries to destroy the main camera so he can capture it. Ral's shield is damaged by the Guntank, and he orders Cozun to fall back. Cozun tries to escape, but Amuro blocks his path with the Guncannon and knocks him out by punching the Zaku. The Gallop retreats, and Amuro drags the Zaku back to the White Base while the Guntank brings the Gundam back. Cozun is removed from his Zaku and taken prisoner once brought aboard White Base. On the bridge, Bright asks Sayla what she was doing, and the only answer she gives is that she wanted to show that a woman could fight as well as a man. Bright says he is very disappointed in her and thought she was smart. For her actions, Bright and Mirai decide to put her in the brig for three days. Ryu takes her down to the brig, and she sees Fraw delivering food to Cozun. She takes the food and asks about Char. He tells her Char lost his position for failing to protect Garma and likely returned home to Side 3. Sayla is put into her cell, but cries tears of joy knowing that her brother Char is alive. The White Base soon finds the new location of the lake where they hope to recover their salt supply. Important Events *'Characters Introduced:' M'Quve, Uragang, Son Malo *'Ships Seen for the First Time:' Gallop *'Deceased:' Acous Staff *'Script:' Yu Yamamoto *'Unit Director:' Minoru Onoya *'Animation Director:' Yoshinobu Aobachi